Speaker 1: Let me ask you a question. You spent your whole
life saving money for retirement. You worked hard, you contributed
to your savings, you tried to make good financial decisions,
and now you're fully retired. But suddenly something strained happens.
Instead of worrying about how to save money, you start
worrying about how to spend it, and for many retirees
that become surprisingly difficult. Has that ever happened to you? Now,
let's look at the other side. Some retirees, they retire
and they spend money so fast, too much money, too fast.
So we have the two opposites. Some spend too fast,
some are afraid of running out of money, and they
barely spend anything at all. So today I want to
talk to you about something that I call the retirement
spending sweet spot, that place in the middle where you're
enjoying life but you're not constantly worrying about money. Because
retirement isn't just about having money, although it helps, it's
about using it wisely to create a life you enjoy.
I'm Maureen Debransky. This is life starts at retirement. I
produce a retirement lifestyle video once a week. Now most
of us or many of us have spent a lot
of time in our days saving money. We were taught
to save your money, to don't waste your money, to
be responsible for decades. At least in my life, the
goal was very, very simple. Accumulate, build my retirement account,
pay down my house, prepare for the future. And then,
like I said, the whole strategy changes. Suddenly, the financial
advice becomes start spending your savings. Oh my gosh. And
psychologically that's often a very difficult shift. In fact, I remember,
I remember the first time I took money out of
my retirement savings account. Oh, I almost threw up. I
was almost sick to my stomach. And I think it's
because so many of us feel like we're breaking the
rules that we followed and were drilled into us our
whole entire lives. Now, I've spoken to so many retirees
who say things like this, I feel guilty if I
spend money, or what if I live longer than I expect,
or even this, what if something goes wrong? So instead
of enjoying their retirement, some people really feel paralyzed by fear.
They watch every single dollar, They hesitate to travel, they
put off experiences, they've dreamed about for years, and sometimes, sadly,
they wait too long. Now, as I mentioned again, there's
the other side of the problem. Some retirees go from
saving their whole entire life to suddenly thinking, WHOA, now's
the time to live. So they travel constantly, they buy
expensive toys, they upgrade their homes, and in the early
years of their retirement they spend far more than they expected.
Sometimes they just assume that their lifestyle will stay the
same forever. But retirement really can last twenty twenty five
thirty years, which is a long time. So we have
these two extremes. One is afraid to spend, the other
spends two quickly, and neither approach really leads to a relaxed,
happy retirement. So what we're looking for is something in
the middle. That retirement spending sweet spot that I mentioned.
Now that sweet spot, I think everyone's will be a
little bit different, but I think it should involve three
different things. Number one security, number two freedom, and number
three joy. So let's look at those security. Security to
me means knowing that your basic needs are covered, housing,
your food, your healthcare, the essential things that allow you
to go to bed at night and sleep that's a
huge one for me. Number two freedom Freedom means having
enough enough flexibility to make choices. So maybe take that
trip that you wanted to, Maybe buy those golf clubs
even though they don't help, Maybe try a new hobby,
or just simply go out for dinner without feeling guilty
when the check comes. And so that's freedom. Now. Joy.
Joy to me means spending money on the things that
truly matter to you, not what others expect of you,
not what society says retirement should look like, but what
actually makes your life richer. For some people, that could
be travel, For others, it's family, volunteering, learning something new.
Who knows that retirement spending sweet spot will look different
for everything. But honestly, so far, when I think I've
uncovered or what I've been talking to a bunch of
other people, is that another unexpected thing happens in retirement.
Many people discover they actually need less money than they expected.
They're no longer commuting, they've paid off or paid down
their house, they're not buying work clothes, they're not saving
as aggressively as they did for the future. So in
many cases, the spending patterns shift naturally so the spending
patterns shift, and then what replaces those older spending patterns
are experience based choices, the travel, the dining, the family,
the pursuing the passions. And that's where this video really
becomes insightful, is because thoughtful or intentional spending becomes important.
Because here's what else I've learned, and this one is huge.
At this stage of our lives, time becomes more important
or more valuable than money. And when we were younger,
we had the opposite problem. We had lots of time
but no money. And now we have a little bit
more money, but our time is going fast. It is
just flying by. And so I hear people all of
the time, and the older you get, the more I
hear this. I wish I would have I wish I
had traveled more when I was younger. I wish I
would have done more. I wish I would have spent more.
I wish I would have done something differently, But many
people kept postponing their experiences, scared to spend anything. So
this is what I'm trying to say, is I believe spending,
that retirement spending sweet spot should be used. Of course,
over and above, your basics should be used to create memories,
to create experiences. Money's just the tool to do that.
As a it's a purpose, I guess, is to support
a life well lived, whatever that means to you, whatever
that is. Intead of asking yourself, can I afford this?
Sometimes the question is does this add value to my life?
Or even another question could be if I always wanted
to do this? Or even a third question, when I'm
ninety five, sitting on my rocking chair, hopefully still alive
and in good health, will this will taking this trip
have effected my life in anything other than positive memories.
For example, a trip with your grandchildren, maybe learning a
new skill, maybe helping somebody. Are the things that really
mean something to you? Spending should be intentional. So instead
of thinking about retirement money is something fragile that should
never ever be touched, I think it should be used
as a resource designed to make your retirement remarkable. You
didn't save money all those years just to look at
it on a spreadsheet. You saved to build a future,
A future filled with experiences, with connection, with learning, with enjoyment,
and finding that retirement spending sweet spot would be wonderful
for all of us. Recognizing you need that financial security,
well also giving yourself permission to live. So I think
retirement and finding that retirement sweet spot right in the
middle of it all. It's where financial confidence meets meaningful living.
It's where thoughtful choices replace that fear. It's where money
isn't necessarily the goal like it has been for years,
but it's a support system for a life that feels
rich in every sense of the world. Because at the
end of the day, the real question isn't just hey,
how much did you save? The real question is did
you use your life, the one that we have now
to create the experiences that truly mattered to you? And
that's the real retirement sweet spot. I'd love to hear
your thoughts. I'm ridprans Kith. This life starts at retirement.
I produce a retirement lifestyle video once a week.